And It Blooms
by ariaojou
Summary: Jumin's and your birthday is coming! You were supposed to celebrate them together, but he suddenly cancelled. Is your birthday going to be just like another day without him? [JuminxMC / one-shot / spoiler-free] Please leave reviews.


"Did something good happen?"

The sudden remark from your friend, Ein, surprises you; you can't suppress a smile. "Um, kinda?"

She rolls her eyes before taking a sip from her iced coffee. "Come on – you've been spacing out grinning like an idiot. Spill."

"Well, uh…"

You two are sitting across each other at the café you frequent, mostly on weekends. Somehow, you always manage to come at the right time, when there's not many people – early evenings. Coming a little earlier – or a little later – and people would pack the place. The atmosphere is comfortable, and you both like it here. The smell of freshly ground coffee beans and butter from the baked goods fill the place. A soft instrumental piano piece neither of you recognize is playing on the background, amongst the murmurs of the talking fellow customers around you.

But Ein was right; for a few minutes now, perhaps longer, you have had your eyes glued on your phone screen, grinning _like an idiot_. Actually, you're not staring at something particularly amusing; it's just the calendar app on your phone. The date shows October 3, which is today. Except your focus was elsewhere not very far from it – only two days away. The particular date – and oddly, the one next to it, too – had a thick red circle on it.

You show your phone to her, still beaming excitedly.

"Your birthday?" she notices. "But what's with the day before it?"

Her question makes you blush. "It's… uh… _his_ birthday."

A brief silence follows, before Ein's eyes widen in understanding. "You have a boyfriend? Or a crush? Who? Since when? Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"Whoa, relax now." You giggle, hiding your flushed cheeks with one hand. But you seem to quickly realize something, as your smile disappears. "Oh… but you won't believe me."

"What are you talking about? Just hurry up and tell me!"

You look at her, at your phone, then back at her, doubting her words. A sigh escapes your lips. Fine – you'll have to tell her sooner or later anyways. After some quick tapping on your phone screen, you hand it back to her. The screen shows a photo of a man in suit. Your, err… _boyfriend_. As much as you love the sound of it, somehow it still feels kind of weird.

Or, more accurately, _unreal_.

Which is exactly what you see plastered on Ein's face as she stares at the photo in disbelief.

 _I knew it_. You let out another sigh, demanding your phone back. But she refuses to give it back, and she still has that look on her face, as if saying, _are you for real?_

"Are you sure this is the right photo?"

You roll your eyes, still demanding your phone back, not answering.

"No, seriously. Like, _seriously_? _Him_?"

You give her a I-told-you-so look, snatching your phone away from her forcefully before placing it on the table, right next to your half-empty coffee cup. "I know, I know. I've heard this enough times already," you say, avoiding her eyes. "It is the right photo, and it is him. I did not hallucinate, I did not hit my head, and I am definitely not dreaming."

 _I still pinch myself from time to time, though_ , you quietly add to yourself.

"You're not lying? Like, Jumin Han is really your b—"

You quickly close her mouth with your hand, turning your head around to see if anyone notices. Everyone seems to be minding their own business. You did not see any heads turning this way, at least. Sighing in relief, you shoot a look at her before retracting your hand and sitting back down. Ein mouths a sorry, which you respond with a pout.

"I am not lying, okay? It's perfectly fine if you choose not to believe me." Lifting your cup to take a sip, you sadly put it back down when you notice that your coffee has gotten quite cold. Luckily, you barely have the time to be sad over a cold coffee, as your phone suddenly rings. The name shown on the screen proves you weren't lying, after all.

After flashing a quick smile to Ein – and making sure she sees the name – you put the phone over your ear, perhaps too excitedly, as you almost dropped it.

"It's me," he starts, as he always does. "What are you doing now? Is this a good time to talk?"

"It is, it is!" you reply, glancing at Ein whose face is now only inches away, shooing her away. "What is it?"

He starts talking. You sit there quietly, listening. But as he goes on, your face slowly changes… and your smile eventually disappears. Still, you try your best to be understanding, telling him over and over that it is perfectly fine. While you're aware that you are not at all an actress, you make sure that he doesn't hear any hint of disappointment from your voice. You even force a smile as the call disconnects after you tell each other 'I love you's.

Ein, who was watching the whole time, knows you well enough to know that it was all pretend. Whatever you heard on the phone just now disappointed you, despite your efforts not to let it show. She also knows you well enough to wait; she won't push you to talk like she did earlier. So she just retracts herself back to her original seating position. And she waits for you to tell her.

"He won't make it," you say simply, your voice close to breaking. "Our birthdays – he'll miss them. Both of them."

* * *

 _He's not answering…_

You let out a long sigh, close to giving up. It's past midnight; you planned to call him and wish him a happy birthday, but perhaps he's gone to bed? He's abroad, in someplace you can't quite pronounce. What time is it supposed to be where he is right now?

Just as you pull your phone off your ear, a voice answers, "Hello, love. It's me. Did something happen?"

Quite panicky, you put your phone back to your ear. _Finally!_ It's strange how elated hearing his voice makes you feel every time when you've been dating for almost two months now. Somehow you are a child again, who just got her favorite candy after a very long time. "Jumin! Hi! Um… it's nothing, just, uh… happy birthday!"

He seems to have just remembered it. "Oh… you're right." You can hear him smile over the phone. "Thank you, love. You called just for that? Isn't it past midnight now?"

"Oh, I didn't interrupt something, didn't I?"

"Oh, no, darling." The new nickname makes you blush. "It's perfectly fine. I'm glad you called. I've been wondering whether I should call you, but I noticed the time."

You almost responded that he could wake you up anytime, but you know he won't have that. _How can he be so sweet?_ It puts a smile on your face. "Is your business trip going well?"

"It is, love." He does sound happy. "We're closing the deal soon. But really, I am so sorry that I won't be home for your birthday. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to make it up to you?"

 _Oh…_ "Jumin, I'm okay, really. You're busy, and work is important. I get it. We can just go somewhere afterwards." He doesn't answer. You can hear his calm breathing over the phone; he's thinking. "I am glad the trip is going well for you. But if anything, it's a shame that you have to spend your birthday working. It's your birthday, remember to treat yourself, okay?"

"Thank you, love," he replies. "I don't know what I've done to deserve an angel like you. Okay, we should really go somewhere after I get back. Do you have any place you'd like to go?"

You try to think of one. But really, anywhere is fine as long as you get to spend some time with him amongst his super busy schedule. So that's what you tell him.

"Ah…" he chuckles – something you rarely hear, which is contagious. "I can relate to that, but you should tell me in case you have a certain place in mind."

"Yes, Mr. Han!" you reply, trying hard to sound like Jaehee, but your own laughter ruins it. At least that made him laugh, though. He was about to say something when suddenly you hear a door opens and someone in the background talks to him in English. You can't quite hear their conversation, but you can somewhat guess what will happen next.

"I'm sorry, love," he says eventually when he gets back to you. You hear the door closes. "I have to go now."

 _See?_ "Okay. Have a good day,"—you hesitate—" _honey_. I love you."

He clears his throat, seemingly taken aback by the nickname, as you rarely call him with one. "I love you, too. Hurry and go to bed. It's late. I'll call you later in the morning. Then, excuse me."

* * *

It's gotten pretty late, you think to yourself as you walk in your neighborhood, nearing your apartment building. Probably thanks to what happened with Jumin, you didn't plan to go out at all today; you spent nearly half of your day lazing around in your tiny apartment, doing things you didn't need to do: you looked at your bookshelf, and suddenly felt like rearranging it, when it didn't need any rearranging. So you took out all the books and, perhaps a little too carefully, lined them up again. When it was finally over, you just threw yourself onto your cold bed, exhausted.

That's when the phone rang; your parents – who lived abroad – video called you to wish you a happy birthday.

"You don't look too happy." Your mom soon noticed. She then asked why you were still in your pajamas when it's gotten pretty late. Usually, you would've been outside. Moreover, today is your birthday – why weren't you out with friends? She demanded.

You forced a smile, as not to make her worry. "Just don't feel like it."

But she saw through you. Of course she did. "Is it your boyfriend? Did you two fight or something?"

"Mom," you called her, with that certain tone you use when you don't really want to talk about something. "It's nothing like that."

"Fine." She sighed heavily. "But go out. Contact your friends. Eat something good. Make yourself happy – it's your birthday!"

 _Funny how I told Jumin the exact same words last night._ "I will," you replied lazily.

Something else rang; this time, it was the bell. Halfheartedly, after excusing yourself to your mom and disconnecting the phone call, you drag yourself out of bed and to the door. You didn't even bother to look into the peep hole. Probably the mailman, you thought as you turned the knob, too painfully slowly.

But the mailman didn't have white hair, nor red. And he was most certainly not a woman. Wait… how tired do you have to be to address so many people like there was only one of them? So no, it was not the mailman. Standing on your doorsteps were five people: two of them were redhead twins, one a silver-haired musical actor, another one a college student, and the last one a woman.

The RFA members. Unconsciously, your eyes searched for someone else, who was certainly not among them. Your heart sank yet again. Still, you were genuinely surprised, and you smiled. Or at least you tried to.

"Happy birthday!" they all said at once.

So that was how you were finally dragged out of the house. Naturally, they were surprised to see that you were still in your pajamas. Jaehee quickly offered to help you change, and Seven even offered to do your make up, both of which you politely declined. In mere fifteen minutes, you were finally out and about, surrounded by friends, just as your mom told you to.

The RFA members took you out for lunch. Shopping followed. Then they took you to walk around town. Your whole schedule for the day was full, you didn't even have time to think about anything else. Perhaps it was meant to be like that from the start, or they kind of improvised after seeing you were in such low spirits. Still, if they had the slightest idea why – and you were sure they did – they were smart enough not to mention anything about it. His name – or anything about him, for that matter – didn't come out of anyone's mouth the whole time. Even Zen closed his mouth tightly, when usually he would've been the quickest one to complain.

You were happy and content. You really did. But now that once again you're all by yourself, walking in the dark of the night, the emptiness came back.

Such thoughts fill you just as your apartment building are finally in sight. But something else catches your attention: a car. And it's not just _any_ car. Your eyes light up. Suddenly, you were running. Your whole body feels light. Your heart were leaping out of your chest. It's like seeing the light at the end of the seemingly endless and dark tunnel.

As if on cue, Driver Kim comes out of the car, stopping your steps quite abruptly. Your eyes were still looking around for Juminwhen the middle-aged man started talking, you almost didn't hear him. He greets you with a smile before handing you a big box wrapped beautifully with a big red ribbon right on the center. "You should wear that, Miss." It sounded like an order which you couldn't quite register.

"What?"

He repeats himself.

"But… is Jumin here?"

"I was only told to come and get you, Miss," he replies calmly, as if expecting your overwhelmed state. "and to hurry."

While still not grasping the situation, you did as you were told. The box contained everything you need from head to toe: a beautiful backless red dress, a pair of dark colored heels, some head ornaments, even make up tools, and a bottle of perfume. All of them has something in common: they all belong to brands you've never even heard before, you could only guess how expensive they are. There's no way these overpriced items would look good on me, you thought as you put them on one by one.

You hurried yourself, thinking that it may mean meeting Jumin faster. And you can probably ask a thing or two to Driver Kim on the way. Except Driver Kim doesn't take questions. He does, however, drives incredibly fast. Suddenly, you're somewhere else, in a completely different side of the city.

"We're here, Miss," Driver Kim says as he opens the car door for you. "Please come in – you have been expected."

* * *

People are staring.

You can feel their eyes, their attention, at you and it makes your cheeks burn with embarrassment. Of course, you think, having spent less than thirty minutes preparing, rushing on your hair and make-up, you are bound to attract attention. Oh wait, there's also the amazing fact that you are wearing heavily overpriced items. Such contrast. _That_ calls for attention.

Still, you keep your eyes glued to the waiter in front of you as he walks further and further into the fancy restaurant building. You didn't even get to mention your name – or anything else, for that matter – as he quickly ushered you inside as soon as you entered. He probably knew who you were already. But you've walked enough distance, past other customers, past other tables, and it's gotten quieter, darker, and there's barely any table around.

 _Where is he taking me?_

Just as you're starting to consider turning back, a gigantic elevator looms before you, at the very back part of the restaurant. Calmly, the waiter pushes the button and waits for you to be inside before entering himself. The next button he pushes, placed on the top of others, indicates the rooftop.

Suddenly, your heart is very noisy.

You will see him – this is for sure. Because really, you can't think of anyone else who would do this. Driver Kim coming to get you should be a more than enough clue. Still… it doesn't feel quite real. Was he lying when he told you he won't be home for at least another week? It's barely two, three days since then.

 _I will see him_ , you tell yourself and your pounding heart. _Very soon._ _I can ask him later. What matters is that we will meet._

Then, the elevator door opens, and closes behind you.

At first you couldn't find him. It took you a while because, while you could somewhat make out the sound of the city down below, you couldn't see anything. Anything but flowers. Rather than a rooftop, this place actually looks more like a flower garden. Exaggerating or not, there seems to be more varieties of flowers here than you see in parks sometimes during your afternoon stroll. Your nostrils are quickly overflowed with the wonderful, sweet aroma of the flowers.

That's when he finally speaks out. "Happy birthday, my love." Finally, you see him. He's standing nearby a table for two in the middle of the "garden," his hand holding a huge bouquet of red roses. Finally, your eyes meet and you can't stop yourself.

 _Finally_ , you are in his arms. You are _home_. He smells like roses, like that perfume he always uses, and you just now realized that you missed him more than you've ever imagined. So much that it brings you to tears.

"Oh, now, darling." He wipes your eyes carefully with his thumb before landing a gentle kiss on the top of your head. "Let's not ruin your beautiful face, okay?"

"You're lying."

He smiles and cups your cheeks in his hands. "Did you not look at yourself in the mirror?"

"I barely had the time. All I thought about was the possibility of seeing you." It was the truth.

He responds with a quick peck on the lips, his smile not disappearing. "That makes me happy, love. But please, do have a look and tell me if I'm lying."

You don't even have the chance to wonder how anyone could be as prepared as he is when he gestures you to the mirror, where you can see your reflection from head to toe. You are never the type of person who is confident with her looks, especially because you literally rushed through everything earlier. It took you less than thirty minutes; it's bound to look horrible.

Yet you've never been so wrong in your entire life.

The red dress makes the color of your eyes pop, and the ends fall just barely, yet perfectly, above your knees. You were never comfortable in showing off your curves and so much skin, but perhaps this dress is a magic item. The unbelievably soft fabric embraces your curves perfectly, and your skin seems to glow on it. As if that is not enough, the heels, while they seemed so tall and scary at first glance, fit perfectly. Even the simple side-braid you did for the sake of saving time looks somewhat fitting, with the crystal-like hair ornaments decorating it here and there.

Either way, the one you see on the mirror doesn't seem like you. Calling _her_ a doll would be much more fitting.

"So… do you believe me now?"

You shake your head. "I… don't know." You turn back to face him, gesturing at your surroundings. "Jumin… What is all this? Aren't you supposed to be away for a few more days?"

"I can't miss your birthday for the world." He strokes your chin with one hand, while the other hands you the banquet. "Isn't this what they call… a birthday surprise?"

Hugging the bouquet, you chuckle at his innocent respond. "Usually a cake with some candles on top would be sufficient, you know." _Which I actually do not see here now_.

"That would be too lonely." He laughs. Then the two of you are laughing together.

"Oh." You suddenly remembered, placing the bouquet on the vacant seat and begin fishing through your purse. "I have something for you, too." You take out a small wooden box, wrapped with a simple red ribbon, and hand it to him. "Happy birthday. Although, I'm sure my gift would be nothing compared to what you've prepared for me."

"Stop belittling yourself, love." He lands a kiss on your forehead, smiling ear to ear. "Can I open it now?"

You nod. Inside the box is a silver tie pin. As he takes it out to observe it, he notices that your initials are engraved on the back part. That seems to make him even happier; he holds you closer to him by the waist. "Thank you so much, love. I will make sure to always have it with me."

You smile, suddenly feeling warm and fuzzy. "I'm glad you like it."

He sounds very nervous when he replies, "Actually... I haven't given you the real present."

"What? What do you mean?"

Much to your surprise, he takes your hand and, holding out a small velvet box, gets on one knee. "…Would you accept _me_ as your birthday present?"

Your heart skips a beat. "…What?"

He gulps nervously, his eyes never leaving yours. Slowly, he opens the box, revealing a ring. "Will you… marry me?"

 _Am I dreaming?_ You ask yourself, still staring – _gaping_ – at him with awe as you try to process the words he has just spoken. He looks unbelievably handsome in his white and silver suit, his hair slightly pushed back. He looks nervous, worried, afraid, even. You can see all kinds of expressions in his usually calm face, imagining that yours probably reflect similar things.

Two months… is an incredibly short time to get to know someone. Standing there, staring at him, everything you've been through together since the first time you logged into the chat room plays in your head, one by one, like a slide show. Your relationship with him is not "normal"; you've lived together for a few days before you actually dated. Yet during those times, the two of you have seen so many moments of the other person no one else has ever seen before. Together, you've smiled… laughed… cried… got excited… got mad… and supported each other through everything.

It's worrying, even scary, to imagine spending your entire lifetime with one person. But… as you slowly feel his warmth in your cold hand, and seeing that small smile he makes as he waits, you feel something certain inside your heart…

…that if it's him, everything is going to be fine. That as long as you two are together, hand in hand, you can face everything. And you couldn't be more certain… that he feels the same way.

"Yes," you answer, your voice barely a whisper, as the tears start to flow uncontrollably. But you want to make sure he hears you, so you say it again, louder, clearer, more certain than ever this time. "Yes! I will!"

And so with a ring and a kiss, the promise is sealed.

"I love you," he whispers in your lips.

"I love you, too."

…For now, and for all eternity.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Happy birthday, Jumin! And happy birthday to me! I was supposed to upload this either on his or my birthday, but my schedule doesn't allow me. Anyhow, I am glad that it is now uploaded and I hope everyone enjoys reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Special thanks to my best friend, for letting me make a character based on her, for my MC's best friend character :) Reviews are _very much_ welcomed!


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